Media & Public Relations

Binghamton University earns AAHRPP accreditation for program protecting human research subjects

2009-04-02

BINGHAMTON, NY-- BinghamtonUniversity, State University of New York, has earned accreditation for its Human Subjects Protection program from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs Inc. (AAHRPP). The accreditation came after years of preparation by Binghamton faculty and staff and is the first in the SUNY system.

AAHRPP is a nonprofit, peer-driven educational model of accreditation for organizations engaged in research involving human participants. The association works with organizations that conduct human research to raise the level of protection for research participants and to promote ethically sound research.

“Binghamton University has built a reputation as an outstanding institution with ‘state-of-the-art’ research activities and facilities carried out by excellent faculty, students and staff,” said Gerald Sonnenfeld, vice president for research. “AAHRPP accreditation assures our excellence in human research studies and reflects our commitment to responsible, high quality research.“

To date, 175 organizations representing more than 830 entities have earned AAHRPP accreditation. Forty-two percent of the nation’s research-intensive universities and 36 percent of U.S. medical schools are now accredited.

“The accreditation Binghamton University, Utah State University, and the University of California, Riverside, as well as Pfizer, attests to the importance of protecting research participants at all universities and in industry, as well,” said the AAHRPP’s President and CEO Marjorie A. Speers, Ph.D., in announcing the new accreditations.

AAHRPP’s standards exceed federal regulations by requiring organizations to address conflict of interest, to provide community outreach and education, and to apply the same stringent protections to all research involving human participants.